Devon & Cornwall Police officer sacked after allegations of using false identity
A hearing found the individual's actions amounted to gross misconduct
A Devon & Cornwall Police officer who faced allegations of contacting members of the public using false identity has been sacked.
A three-day hearing has found that the individual's actions amounted to gross misconduct.
The officer, whose name has been withheld, was dismissed without notice on 20th May 2022 and their details have been added to the College of Policing Barred List.
What are the details of the case?
The officer faced allegations that between January 2019 and April 2020, they breached the standards appropriate to the conduct of a police officer in respect of honesty and integrity, discreditable conduct and duties and responsibilities.
It had been alleged that the officer embarked on a course of conduct whereby they accessed and misused police information for non-policing purposes and contacted members of the public by various means using false identity, with said information, for non-policing purposes.
On 20 May 2022, the officer was dismissed without notice and their details will be submitted to the College of Policing Barred List, preventing them from working within policing.
The Legally Qualified Chair of the misconduct hearing panel directed that the hearing should take place in private and that there should be no public identification having regard to the present state of the officer’s mental health, about which the panel had received extensive oral and written evidence from a consultant psychiatrist.
How have Devon & Cornwall Police responded?
Head of Professional Standards, Detective Superintendent Paul Kessell, said: "On this occasion the behaviour of the officer fell below the standards expected within policing.
"Through their actions, the officer undermined the public’s trust and confidence in the police force and did not fulfil their duties and responsibilities.
"Such behaviour will not be tolerated within policing and the decision made by the independent chair is that the officer was dismissed without notice".